Translator: AnubisTL
Wise One's Mine.
Ten Tier 4 Iron Ore mines, ten Tier 4 Copper Ore mines, ten Tier 4 Titanium Crystal mines, ten Tier 4 Lumber Mills, and ten 4th Tier Red Heart Rock mines.
A total of fifty mines.
Extracting resources from these mines would take some time—it wasn't a simple task.
But Chen Mang wasn't in a hurry.
Soon—
Six days passed.
"..."
Lying in his chair, Chen Mang sighed softly as he stared at the movie on his screen, which he'd watched three or four times already. He lit a cigarette out of boredom and gazed out the window at the bustling scene outside.
No new movies had been released.
There were no other entertainment options either. He'd tried the single-player game consoles the production line had manufactured, but they were dull.
He'd also visited the Combat Training Virtual Space many times in recent days.
Though the Combat Training Virtual Space seemed like a game, it only involved entering with his consciousness. There were no reward mechanisms or plotlines, so it didn't provide much satisfaction. In fact, the constant injuries and deaths made it quite painful.
It was useful for training, but not quite enough as a form of entertainment.
For several nights now, he had been dreaming continuously, but he hadn't brought anything back from his dreams. Perhaps because he had spent many consecutive days mining in his dreams, he felt somewhat listless, his body aching and exhausted.
For the time being, he didn't want to create any more Dream Realms.
It was just too tiring.
He looked down at the "Project Proposal" in his hand. Old Pig and Zhang Yiren had drafted it together yesterday after he had mentioned that the train lacked entertainment options.
Two variety shows.
The first was a dating show designed to help more train residents find partners, marry, and have children, thus ensuring the continuation of human civilization.
He glanced at it briefly and tossed it aside. The train didn't need children right now. They would consider such matters of inheriting human civilization after they had grown stronger.
In reality, although a newborn child on the train would earn a Legacy Value bonus of +1, almost no train would encourage childbirth within its confines for such a small reward.
The reward was simply too meager.
Fortunately, the reward wasn't higher. Otherwise, women of childbearing age would face a difficult existence, and over-encouraging childbirth would turn it into a business.
The second variety show was called "Time-Travel Variety Show."
By drugging a survivor and creating the illusion of time travel, we'll let them live freely within a re-staged space gate. We'll observe their actions through hidden Mechanical Eyes.
"Hmm," Chen Mang nodded thoughtfully. To be honest, he was quite interested in the second variety show. Moreover, there was no need to drug anyone; activating Space Stasis would create a perfect time-travel scene.
But the staging would be troublesome.
As for the subject, that was easy enough. During their last trip to the city to scavenge supplies, a group of survivors had ambushed Biaozi and his crew. They had all been captured and brought onto the train, but instead of being granted resident status, they were locked up as lab rats.
These lab rats could be used as trial-and-error agent for "non-subjective" exploration.
"Non-subjective" meant that the trial-and-error agent didn't need to take any action; they could simply be sent in. For example, the puzzle-based fortuitous encounter map he had just visited couldn't be completed by a non-subjective trial-and-error agent.
"Xiao Ai."
"Yes?"
"Contact Old Pig. I'm quite interested in the second reality show variety show. Have Zhang Yiren handle the staging. If he lacks resources, he can improvise."
"Understood."
Chen Mang finally turned his gaze to the screen on the control panel. It was almost the seventh day, with less than a few minutes until midnight. Once the clock struck zero, Neon City would reopen.
This would be its second opening.
He had no idea how many people had found Neon City Entry Tickets, nor how many were planning to enter this time. User data was virtually nonexistent; he couldn't see any user information.
"It's all up to you, Mundo," Chen Mang murmured, a hint of distraction in his voice. The first batch of people who entered Neon City were mostly train conductors from his zone, many of whom he had met before. They were old acquaintances, in a sense.
After all, his initial batch of entry tickets could only be distributed within this zone, unable to reach other areas.
As for how many people would come for the second opening... that depended on how many entry tickets Mundo had distributed over the past few days. In other words, today was the day to test Mundo's results.
"Don't let me down, Little Duo."
"Achoo!"
On the wasteland, Mundo, riding an off-road motorcycle under a sky full of stars, suddenly sneezed uncontrollably. He rubbed his itchy nose before twisting the throttle to its limit and continuing his journey.
He could only teleport randomly ten times a day.
He couldn't just teleport every time he encountered a train; that would be too inefficient, and there was no guarantee he'd find a train each time.
Instead, he would teleport randomly, then ride his off-road motorcycle across the wasteland in search of trains, maximizing his teleportation uses.
He patted the bulging space pouch at his waist, which was filled with red heart nuts, food, water, entry tickets, and various other odds and ends.
Mundo pulled a red heart nut from his pocket and popped it into his mouth. He soon sensed a train stopped nearby and immediately sped toward it!
The distance closed rapidly.
The weaponry mounted on the train slowly rotated, aiming at him, but didn't fire. This was the confidence of a black market merchant: who would dare attack one and risk their life?
He expertly and casually maneuvered his motorcycle to the left side of the locomotive cabin, pulled out an entry ticket from his pocket, and tossed it onto the ground.
Then, without a word, he rode away.
Several minutes later.
A man emerged from the locomotive cabin, picked up the entry ticket with a puzzled expression, and nodded thoughtfully after reading the information on the panel. He then tucked the ticket into his pocket and returned to the cabin.
Again and again, countless times.
Mundo worked tirelessly, like a diligent little bee, repeating the same task without rest.
The Stellaris's development was the result of countless individuals' efforts.
For example, Mundo.
Though he wasn't visible inside the Stellaris train, and no one could see his work, it was in these unseen places that Mundo made an enormous contribution to the Stellaris.
As the saying goes:
A good product isn't truly good.
The real boss is the one who can consistently attract customers.
The clock struck midnight.
Neon City reopened!
"Seventy-eight people already," Chen Mang murmured, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window of his Sun City high-rise, counting the train conductors gathered nearby. Ten minutes after opening, seventy-eight people had entered—not bad.
It seemed many had been waiting to enter the moment it opened.
During the last opening, a total of 188 people had entered. He wondered how many would come this time. If he could get 189, he'd be satisfied—at least maintaining an upward trend.
This meant he was retaining his existing customer base while also attracting new ones.
For some reason, he still felt a bit nervous.
"Lord Mang," Uncle Li whispered from beside him, "When will Neon City be open all day? I think we could make even more money if we were open around the clock."
"No," Chen Mang, leaning on his cane by the window, shook his head softly. "With the current user base, staying open all day would actually decrease revenue. People wouldn't feel pressured to buy things urgently since they could come back anytime. It would be like, 'I can always come back tomorrow.'"
"Only by creating a sense of urgency, like we're doing now, can we really drive sales."
"Once we have a four-digit user base, with several hundred train conductors entering Neon City every day, then we can consider staying open around the clock. But for now, there's no rush."
"Besides..."
"It seems everyone has figured out a few things."
Neon City offers a high degree of freedom.
As long as you use stellar coupons for transactions, you can do almost anything you want in Neon City. And after six days of professional training, some residents of the Stellaris train have successfully taken up their posts.
For example...
The Bounty Board.
At this moment, seven or eight train conductors were gathered around the Bounty Board in Neon City, curiously examining the bounty information displayed.
The bounty for 2 million stellar coupons for the train that had cheated had already been claimed.
A train from the same zone had confirmed that the train in question couldn't be found on the train radio, making it almost certain that it had been destroyed.
Now, a new bounty had been added.
Top Rank: Destroy the Tier 8 Mechanical Train "Favorite Train" in the Yellow Zone's Zombie Basin. Reward: 1 million stellar coupons. The bounty poster will cover half the ammunition cost, paid in additional stellar coupons.
Bounty Poster: Anonymous.
Reason for Bounty: Pure scum.
Bounty Information: Tier 8 Mechanical Train.
Second Rank: None.
"Hmm..."
Among the onlookers, a train conductor frowned in confusion. "Trains can't cross zones. If that Yellow Zone isn't connected to any other Yellow Zones, wouldn't the only train eligible to accept this bounty be the one from that zone?"
"Then why didn't they post it on the train radio? Why here?"
"Are you an idiot?" A masked man beside him scoffed. "Posting on the train radio requires revealing your identity. The target would immediately know who's after them. This is anonymous—perfect for a sneaky attack."
"Besides, they might have a past grudge. Now that they're in different zones, they can't issue a bounty on the train radio."
"But since the bounty is anonymous, the former scenario is more likely."
"Where did you get that mask?"
"Bought it at the spawn point. It's disposable—self-destructs when you exit the fortuitous encounter map. Cost 300 stellar coupons."
"I'll put up a bounty too."
At that moment, a middle-aged man who had been standing behind the group in silence stepped forward. After a moment of contemplation, he approached the robot standing by the Bounty Board. "I'd like to post a bounty. I'm looking for kitten cubs—as many as possible. I'm willing to pay 50,000 stellar coupons for each one."
"What an idiot! 50,000 stellar coupons for a kitten cub?"
"Heh."
The man chuckled softly, turning to give the speaker a meaningful glance without saying a word. He then continued posting his bounty.
He was the train conductor of a Tier 18 train. While he didn't know the current highest tier train, he considered himself to be among the top.
50,000 stellar coupons were equivalent to 50,000 units of iron ore.
Someone who was stingy even with 50,000 units of iron ore was undoubtedly running a low-tier train. But instead of looking down on him, the train conductor was actually excited.
"Material bounties should be posted at the Free Trade Market next door."
The robot standing beside the Bounty Board pointed down the street with a professional smile. "At the Free Trade Market over there, train conductors can freely trade with each other and post bounties for resources."
The Bounty Board was a repurposed advertisement board from behind a bus stop. It stood directly on the roadside, making it highly visible.
"Alright," the middle-aged man nodded, saying nothing more. He strode toward the Free Trade Market.
Gazing at the shops lining the street and the towering skyscrapers in the distance, his eyes sparkled with excitement.
This place was truly remarkable.
Zones were notoriously difficult to connect—an ironclad rule. Even information was hard to transmit, let alone train travel and resource circulation. He hadn't seen a low-tier train in ages, which meant this place connected many zones.
There were even several White Zones.
Kitten cubs like this could only possibly exist in low-tier zones. The harsh conditions of High-Level Zones made it impossible for strays to survive. They would inevitably perish.
One unit of iron ore exchanged for one stellar coupon—that was the rule of this fortuitous encounter map.
On the surface, this seemed fair to all train conductors.
But in reality, a Tier 1 train and a Tier 18 train valued 50,000 units of iron ore vastly differently. If they could trade 50,000 units of iron ore for a kitten cub, it would be an incredible bargain.
The question was whether they could actually acquire one.
Though this place was magical, it didn't seem to have many people—only about a hundred train conductors.
"50,000 units of iron ore for a cat?"
Chen Mang stood thoughtfully before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the middle-aged man's back. He was particularly focused on this man, the highest-ranked train conductor among them, whose train was a staggering Tier 18.
That was several tiers higher than his own.
Chen Mang had never encountered a train conductor of this caliber. Without a doubt, this man had been brought here by Mundo.
If it were merely about loneliness and the desire for a pet, he wouldn't have specified a Kitten Cub.
This felt like it might be connected to the Cosmic Behemoth.
Could a Tier 18 train use some method to cultivate ordinary cubs into Cosmic Behemoths?
Did it have to be a kitten cub?
What about adult cats? Piglet cubs? Chickens?
"Hey, are you fucking serious?!"
"Do you really want to make this a fight to the death?!"
"You son of a bitch!"
Outside a Customs Shop, surrounded by onlookers, a burly man glared at the middle-aged man standing before him, his face contorted with rage. "Dare to give me your current coordinates? Let's settle this face-to-face!"
"Family members are off-limits. What did you mean by using my mom's photo for a custom order?"
"I wouldn't dare," the middle-aged man replied, shaking his head with a serious expression. "I don't have much copper ore left, so I need to conserve it. Besides, haven't we already declared a fight to the death? It's quite a coincidence, really. Who would have thought I'd accidentally stumble upon your mom's photo?"
Then he turned to the Customs Shop staff.
"Can you bring the custom-ordered girl out onto the street?"
"Technically, no. But if you're willing to pay a 100,000 stellar coupon exit fee, it's possible."
"100,000?" The middle-aged man frowned slightly. That was quite expensive. But glancing at the burly man's grim, furious expression, he suddenly felt a refreshing chill run through him, like drinking an ice-cold soda on a sweltering summer day.
The burly man nodded generously. "100,000 it is."
"I'll pay."
"Bring it out. I'll wait right here on the street."
"Hey!"
The burly man wanted to explode, but seeing the crowd of Black Hole Armed Robots surrounding him, he suppressed his rage and turned to the Customs Shop attendant. "Don't you have privacy regulations?"
"We do."
The attendant offered a professional smile. "As a rule, Customs Shops are not supposed to accept custom orders for well-known public figures or orders based on photographs."
"Then why did you let him place the order?"
"In Neon City, the rules are a little more flexible."
"You son of a bitch!"
At that moment, the girl who had been customized emerged from the shop. The burly man froze, then turned and quickly fled with a face as dark as dripping ink, never wanting to linger there a moment longer.
The onlookers exchanged glances, each secretly making a mental note.
I must buy a mask.
And I must protect the photos of my family. This place is like the Dark Forest. Whoever reveals their family's photos first, if their enemies find out, they'll be in for a world of disgust.
You can't kill them, but you can make their lives miserable.
"Ha! Serves you right!"
Hearing the man's mocking laughter, the burly man quickened his pace, heading back towards the Bounty Board. He glared at the staff member standing there and said grimly, "I want to place a bounty!"
Free Trade Zone
Limited Time Offer: No Transaction Fees
The area was bustling with stalls. Each stall had a screen displaying the goods the train conductor was selling and what they were buying.
"It's been a long time," the Tier 18 train conductor, a middle-aged man in long sleeves and pants, stared at the information on the first stall's screen. He paused, his expression momentarily dazed, lost in thought. After a moment, he shook his head and chuckled softly.
A line of small text on the screen read:
"Seeking a Tier 4 or higher train conductor for some experience sharing."
"Paid consultation, price negotiable."
"Must display your train's tier."
He suddenly remembered his own weakness when he was young. Back then, he had longed for someone to impart their wisdom, but the Heavenly Barrier between zones had made it impossible to contact High-Level Trains. Even if he could, he wouldn't have dared to reach out.
Now, the conditions were truly ideal.
The existence of Neon City had shattered that fantasy.
He couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen a train from the White Zone.
He immediately crouched down, tapped his wrist-mounted watch, and shook his wrist. "Little Brother, a Tier 18 train—is that enough to guide you?"
"Tier eighteen?"
The young man sitting at the stall stared blankly at the train's tier displayed on the watch. He then scrambled to his feet, his face a mixture of awe and fear, and whispered, "Senior, I... I can't afford a very high consultation fee."
"I'll charge you one stellar coupon. Do you have any cigarettes?"
"Yes."
"Give me one."
The middle-aged man sat cross-legged on the ground, lit a cigarette, and fell into a long reverie. After a moment, he finally spoke. "You should be in the White Zone now, right? What Tier train are you on?"
"Tier 3."
"Tier 3... Let me think. You should be about to undergo your class change soon. My personal advice is to ignore the flesh train and choose the mechanical train. However, the S-Class job change quest for the mechanical train is incredibly difficult—practically impossible to complete."
"Unless..."
"Unless you're willing to buy a large number of Tier 10 Refrigerators from the Mechanical Train Parts Store. I just checked, and with enough Tier 10 Refrigerators, there's a chance of passing the quest. But it would require a massive amount of iron ore—at least 500,000 units."
"For someone in the White Zone, that's an astronomical sum. It's practically impossible to raise that much."
"The downside of A-Rank Difficulty is significant. The B-Tier job advancement quest is extremely challenging. The C-grade job advancement quest is a decent option—you just need to transfer the train conductor position to someone else and then have them transfer it back. But this requires a trusted family member. Don't even think about trying to control someone and force them to return the conductor position."
"That's not realistic."
"Few people would willingly give back the conductor position."
"We'll just die together then. If the conductor dies, the train becomes scrap, and without the train, you'll die too."
"You can't hand over the train conductor position outside the train."
"I recommend choosing a D-rank job advancement quest directly and not wasting too much time on this. There's no need to gamble, as there isn't much difference between C-grade and D-rank potential—they're essentially the same."
"Once you upgrade your armor to Tier 3, you can class change to the Mechanical Train and advance to a Tier 4 Train."
"At this point, you'll gain an energy shield. I suggest crafting it but not upgrading it. Just rely on your Tier 3 armor to withstand attacks. If a train attacks you or you encounter a high-level monster, just run."
"Upgrade as quickly as possible."
"Level up your train."
"Once your train reaches Tier 6, craft the 'Zaibatsu Energy Shield' and skip upgrading the 'Energy Shield' accessory that becomes available at Tier 4. This will save you a lot of iron ore. Otherwise, you'll waste a lot of iron upgrading the energy shield, only to have to replace it with the Zaibatsu Energy Shield at Tier 6 anyway."
"Similarly, when your train reaches Tier 4 and you can craft the 'Hell Cannon,' craft just one to meet the upgrade requirements. Don't upgrade it or craft more. Stick with the 'Third-Rate Heavy Machine Gun' for now. You'll likely have very little copper ore at this stage, so there's no need to engage in combat with monsters."
"If you encounter a monster, run. If there's no monster, mine."
"After reaching Tier 6, craft the Doomsday Cannon. This weapon will be your primary weapon for a long time to come."
"It can be upgraded to Tier 8. The overpowered effect at Tier 5 halves ammunition consumption, easing your copper ore burden. If you have murphy stones, upgrade it to Tier 10. The overpowered effect at Tier 10 also halves ammunition consumption."
"This weapon should carry you through to Tier 10."
"Tier 10 is another hurdle. You'll enter a firepower vacuum at this point, where both your energy shield and weapon will start to fall behind. You'll need to replace them, which will consume a massive amount of resources."
"Even a Tier 10 Doomsday Cannon can no longer guarantee your survival against monsters in the Blue Zone."
"You'll need to craft red-grade weapons and energy shields. During this period, you'll need..."
The middle-aged man spoke earnestly, as if pouring out his entire knowledge. Many of the pitfalls he described were ones he himself had fallen into. He had only learned they were traps after stepping into them himself, as no one had ever warned him about them before.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
His throat felt dry from talking so much. He had covered topics like how to find fortuitous encounter maps, how to obtain rewards from them, and how to collect zone-specific special items.
For example, the "drill" accessory is only found in a few low-tier zones.
If he could obtain enough Drill Blueprints, he could sell them for a high price in Neon City. At the very least, he would definitely buy them. He possessed the Drill Manipulation Token, a special item, but lacked the Drill Blueprint, leaving him with no way to acquire the accessory.
Finally finished speaking, he realized that a crowd had gathered around him at some point. Everyone had been listening quietly, diligently taking notes in their notebooks.
"So many people?"
The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback.
"Sir."
The young man standing in front of the stall rose to his feet, his eyes slightly red-rimmed. He bowed deeply to the middle-aged man, his voice trembling slightly. "In my zone, many train conductors constantly try to steal my iron ore. I never expected there to be someone as kind as you in this world. No wonder you're a Tier 18 train conductor."
"This is an immense kindness. I will repay your generosity in full when I have the chance."
"There's no need for that," the middle-aged man said, rising and waving his hand with a sigh. "You're overthinking it. You pose no threat to me, which is why I'm willing to share so much. I climbed my way up just like you described during my weaker days. Competition is inevitable if you want to develop."
"Iron ore is something you have to fight for."
"Who doesn't need iron ore? Even I do. The energy shield upgrades I'm currently undergoing would cost you an astronomical sum—more than the combined value of every item on the Free Trade Market. Just one upgrade would bankrupt you."
He said no more, moving on to the next stall. He'd simply been struck by a moment of reflection, wanting to share his experience. If his insights could improve the survival rate of low-tier trains, he felt it would be well worth it.
The second stall sold pens and notebooks.
"..."
The middle-aged man silently surveyed the crowd, who were now gazing at him with gratitude. They had all been listening to his advice, each holding a pen and notebook of the same design—identical to those sold at the stall.
He quietly averted his gaze, turning to the smiling vendor at the stall and murmuring, "You'll succeed in everything you do."
"How much did you make?"
"Not much, about 20,000 stellar coupons."
"You sold pens and notebooks for nearly 20,000 stellar coupons?"
"The price has gone up temporarily."
"By how much?"
"Three hundred times. The original price for both the pen and notebook was 2 stellar coupons."
"Impressive."
"It's senior who's impressive. Without your guidance, no one would have bought my pen and notebook. Such valuable experience, and you only charged 1 stellar coupon for it. Brother, you're the best! I admire you!"
"You're the one who's truly impressive."
The middle-aged man wandered through the Free Trade Market, which had only a dozen or so stalls. There weren't many vendors, and the goods on offer were too basic for his needs. He no longer needed such low-level items.
Finally, he set up a stall in a corner.
He wasn't selling anything.
He was only buying.
"50,000 stellar coupons for a Kitten Cub. Buy as many as you have."
He then stood up and left, choosing Automatic Hosting.
This was a feature of the Free Trade Market that allowed vendors to choose between free hosting or free selling. They didn't need to sit at their stall; they simply set their buying and selling prices.
The daily hosting fee was 1,000 stellar coupons.
It was quite convenient.
It saved a lot of time and was far more efficient than attending a gathering.
"This guy..."
Standing on the office building, Chen Mang watched the scene unfold below, lost in thought. "This experience is genuine beginner's wisdom," he mused. "It could help low-tier trains avoid many pitfalls and significantly increase their survival rate."
This was precisely what he had intended to do.
He had been compiling beginner's guides, planning to sell them for 100 stellar coupons each.
But after listening to the man's account, he realized his own summaries paled in comparison.
The main issue was...
His beginner's guides were difficult to condense, built on a chain reaction of snowballing events. He had never encountered a "firepower defense vacuum period" like the man described. From the start, his armor's defense rating had always been roughly on par with the zone's Tier.
He never felt like he was wasting resources either. He had always prioritized armor upgrades.
After a moment's contemplation, he turned to Xiao Ai beside him. "Record everything he just said. Then send someone to chat with him and try to get more detailed insights. Afterward, combine his experience with my own to create a beginner's tutorial. Sell it for 100 stellar coupons to low-tier trains."
"Help more trains survive."
"Make it a permanent product."
"55 split."
"Yes."
He wasn't expecting this product to make a profit. However, it could help many low-tier trains survive, indirectly increasing the number of high-tier trains and cultivating high-net-worth customers for Neon City.
Setting the price at 100 stellar coupons would be just right, making it affordable for low-tier trains.
A price that was too low would give the impression of poor quality.
"Hello, sir. Our Boss has invited you to come with us."
The middle-aged man, who had been strolling along the street, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman approaching him. He could clearly see the mechanical organs beneath her skin—she was a robot.
"Your boss? The boss of Neon City?"
"Yes."
"Lead the way."
The man followed the woman in silence toward Sun City, his mind reeling like a mountain collapsing. This was the first time he had encountered a Mechanical Civilization individual with intelligence and the ability to communicate in a fortuitous encounter map!
The Boss had actually invited him.
This was a sign of true sentience.
Having explored numerous fortuitous encounter maps, he was well aware of the Mechanical Civilization's existence and knew that trains were their tools. However, all the clues he had gathered from these maps suggested that the Mechanical Civilization had already perished.
He had never met a robot who could communicate normally.
This was the first.
(End of the Chapter)
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